The Standards Council of Canada (SCC) works with Canadian innovators to identify standardization solutions that can help them scale up and go global.

In today’s global—and increasingly knowledge-based economy—innovation is the key to unlocking long-term growth. It drives productivity, supports competitiveness, and quite simply, fuels economies. In fact, knowledge, talent and innovation are essential ingredients for ensuring success in markets both at home and around the world. 

But finding ways of fostering innovation is a challenge for both governments and companies—and that’s where standardization comes in.

Innovation may start with a creative “spark”, but it’s only truly successful when the new idea is developed and finds a market. The evolution of a great idea into a market-ready product, service, or method is the process of commercialization. And standards support commercialization by empowering innovation wherever it sparks.

Standards are a launching pad for innovation. 

• They help establish a common language for new concepts and technologies. 
• They define interfaces, compatibility requirements and uniform methods of measurement. 
• They create the conditions that foster and sustain innovation by making it possible for new products and services to be sold in markets around the globe. 

Today, countries around the world are competing to take the lead when it comes to new and emerging technologies and sectors—from clean technology to agri-food to health/bio sciences, or from advanced manufacturing to digital industries and resources of the future. Those countries that are first to the table in developing the international standards to support innovations gain a distinct competitive advantage. If Canada wants to continue to create jobs, drive growth and improve the quality of life of Canadians, we need to stay at the cutting edge of this innovation race. 

SCC is supporting Canada’s push to be a global innovation leader by laying the foundation for innovation to thrive. We are: 

• Working directly with businesses to identify standardization solutions that can help them address a market need, overcome a market barrier or seize an opportunity – particularly in areas where they have unique expertise and competitive advantage. Standardization solutions could include new standards, updates of existing standards or even new conformity assessment programs.

• Helping Canadian companies navigate international standards so they can ensure their innovative ideas lead to the development of international standards. By being first through the gate in developing these standards and participating in the technical committees that draft them, we can help influence and shape the marketplace for our products, services and technologies.

To remain competitive in today’s global economy, it is critical that Canada find ways to tap into our nation’s entrepreneurial and innovative expertise. Bringing Canadian innovators into the standardization network—and embedding standardization solutions at the outset of the innovation process—will help ensure this happens. 

Simply put, when it comes to supporting and fueling innovation, standardization matters.